2011 Tour de France, Stage 21

Cadel Evans (BMC) has won the 98th edition of the Tour de France and became the first rider from Australia to do so. "A few people always believed in me and they’re the people that matter the most. We did it,” Evans said. "It’s been a real pleasure these past three weeks."

The 34-year-old Evans is the oldest winner of the event since World War II passing Gino Bartali who was also 34 but slightly younger when he won in 1948.


Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), led by his powerful train, won the sprint on the Champs-Élysées, his 3rd finishing day victory and bringing his total stage victories to 20. Cavendish is also the winner of the the green jersey in the points classification. "I left it until 170 meters to go today, I knew it was going to be tough,” Cavendish said. “I’m so, so happy and so proud of the guys. It’s a great way to finish the Tour. "I’ve been trying to get this (the green jersey) for the past few years and finally I’ve done it.


Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the polka dot jersey in the mountains classification.


Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) won the white jersey in the best young rider classification.

The last rider on GC, the lanterne rouge, was Italian Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas-Cannondale) who finished 167th with a deficit of 3:57:43.

Damiano Cunego, highest placed Italian in 7th: "I am very satisfied with my Tour de France. Thanks to the support by my entire team I found myself battling with the best riders. It is an important result for me and a reward for all the training I did in order to be ready for this Grande Boucle."

Final top 10 GC:

1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 86:12:22
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:01:34
3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:02:30
4 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:03:20
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:03:57
6 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:55
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:06:05
8 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:07:23
9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:08:15
10 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:11


Prize earnings by team:
BMC Racing Team : 493 990 €
Team Leopard Trek : 395 310 €
Team Europcar : 147 310 €
Team Garmin-Cervélo : 145 940 €
HTC-HighRoad : 104 940 €
Omega Pharma-Lotto : 96 600 €
FDJ : 90 660 €
Euskaltel-Euskadi : 87 780 €
Saxo Bank-SunGard : 72 290 €
Sky : 67 000 €
Movistar Team : 46 660 €
AG2R-La Mondiale : 45 560 €
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne : 41 740 €
Vacansoleil-DCM : 35 650 €
Lampre-ISD : 30 100 €
Saur Sojasun : 26 930 €
Rabobank : 24 290 €
Liquigas-Cannondale : 22 360 €
Quick Step : 19 940 €
Katusha Team : 12 380 €
Pro Team Astana : 11 710 €
Team RadioShack : 10 540 €

It was a terrific Tour. So, what is in store for 2012?
-2012 Tour presentation planned for October 18 in Paris
-start in Liège, Belgium
-rumors of an Alpe d'Huez time trial
-perhaps an announcement of a Tour start in Italy in 2014. The Veneto region, Genoa, and Florence have submitted applications. Corsica, the only department that has not hosted a start, has been mentioned for 2013.



Photos: Bettini; except for all jersey winners on podium: Sirotti

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